BRONX TIMES R 56 EPORTER, MARCH 6-12, 2020 BTR
Featured at a recent Winter Market at Confetti Party Place.
Photo courtesy of Food for Thought
BY CHRYS NAPOLITANO
Oh my, it has been a busy
few weeks. Cooking Workshops
every Saturday in February
and yesterday was
another Winter Market at
Confetti Party Place. As soon
as I am done writing this, I’m
going to curl up on the couch
and take a Sunday afternoon
nap with my pups on each side
of me.
Thanks to everyone who
stopped by yesterday to support
local businesses. It was,
unfortunately, a slow day. I had
an over abundance of pierogi
from all of the recent workshops.
There’s always pierogi
and fi llings left over, so I end
up making a batch of dough
to use it all up. Next thing I
knew, I had ten dozen pierogi
in the freezer. I was so happy to
see some of our regulars from
the Market at Preston, a few of
the people who follow my Two
Wrasslin’ Dogs Farms page
and of course, readers of this
column. It’s always nice to connect
with people and I am so
appreciative of everyone who
reads this column.
One of the joys of connecting
is being able to share information
about the perils
of our modern food system,
but to do it in a way that isn’t
preaching. For example, while
the response to my pasta and
pierogi workshops has been
positive, there have been a few
requests for gluten free workshops.
That’s why I always
start my workshops with a
discussion of why we source
the ingredients that we use,
especially four. I mention the
concern for gluten free products,
that true Celiac’s Disease
affects only 2 -3% of the
population and that the digestive
issues that we are feeling
is actually a response to wheat
that is genetically modifi ed to
be ‘Round-up ready’.
This, I explain, is why it is
so important to buy fl our that
is non GMO and certifi ed organic.
Luckily, our attendees
are not satisfi ed and we’re able
to have a conversation about
fl our…because, who thinks
about how fl our is grown, harvested
and processed? Well,
it’s grown in large, industrial,
monoculture fi elds and when
it’s ready to be mechanically
harvested, the fi elds need to be
weeded. It would be cost prohibitive
to pay for manpower
to walk through the fi elds and
manually pull the weeds. It
would also be cost prohibitive
to pay people to walk through
fi elds, spraying the weeds and
then returning a few days
later to pull the dead weeds, as
well as incredibly dangerous
for the workers. The solution
was to create a strain of wheat
that could withstand a dousing
with Roundup and not die.
This allows farmers to soak
fi elds of wheat with Roundup
and then return a few days
later to harvest the wheat…
which has been soaked in poison
and you are now ingesting
every time you eat bread
or pasta.
The simple solution, I explain,
is that if you are going to
go through the effort to make
fresh pasta or fresh pierogi,
make sure that the fl our you
purchase is non GMO and certifi
ed organic. I use a brand
I get from our Lewis Waite
Farm CSA, Farmer Ground,
but brands like Bob’s Red Mill
are great.
At our most recent workshop,
an attendee asked a
great question about eggs and
what the whole Omega 3 thing
was about. I was so excited to
get this question and it led to
a great discussion. First of all,
Omega 3s & 6s are fatty acids
that are essential to our diets
and are provided through
food. I am not a nutritionist, so
the simplest way I can describe
them is that 3s come from
grass and leaves and 6s come
from nuts and seeds. Both are
benefi cial, but only in a ratio
that we have adapted to over
the centuries. So, in the context
of eggs, through most of
humanity’s domestication of
the chicken, we have let them
feed on pasture: grass. They
also feed on bugs and grubs,
but you get the picture.
Fast forward to the end
of the twentieth century and
farming is now an industry.
Chickens are kept in cages
and are fed corn: seeds. So
are the rest of our formerly
pastured animals that now are
kept in CAFO’s (Concentrated
Animal Feeding Operations):
cows and pigs. So instead of
getting the Omega 3’s through
the meat we eat, we’re getting
Omega 6’s. This imbalance of
Omega 6’s to 3’s may contribute
to excess infl ammation in
the body, raising the risk of
many diseases.
The best way to fi ght this is
to make sure that you’re eating
a diet rich in green leafy
vegetables and that the meat
and dairy you eat is from pastured
animals that are ‘grass
fed and fi nished’. Eggs should
be from chickens that are pastured
or grass fed. ‘Cage Free’
simply means that they aren’t
in cages, but they are still
kept in close quarters in large
sheds. Even ‘fed a vegetarian
diet’ is problematic because
chickens should be raised on
pasture so that they have access
to the grubs and bugs
that are part of their natural
diet. A vegetarian diet would
indicate a lack of access to pasture.
Needless to say, fi nding
meat, dairy and eggs that
meet this criteria, and are
still affordable is an issue for
most people. We can all do better
when we are armed with
some knowledge about labels.
It helps us all to be more effi
cient with our food dollars
when we are out shopping. It
‘s not easy; even my husband
and I recently reviewed our
spending habits and realized
we were spending too much
on delivery and take out. In
mid January, I put the hammer
down and said, “We have
to stop”. Since then, we have
only ordered pizza once when
our stove wasn’t working on
a Sunday and we weren’t getting
a propane delivery until
the following day…sigh…
We’ve been eating lots of
meat-free dishes and when
we do eat meat, we’re stretching
it across a few meals. I
made chicken stock on Friday
that was loaded with ginger,
turmeric, garlic, green onion,
lemongrass, cilantro and
carrots. Now we have eight
quarts of stock to turn into
many meals like risotto and
soups, all of which can be free
of added meat, but still packed
with nutrition.
Knowledge is power!
Be the change you want to
see in the world.
BY TONY SALIMBENE
Attention on deck. Commander
Gene wants you to remember
the following events,
and participate too.
Sunday, March 15 is the
Throggs Neck St. Patrick’s
Day Parade down the avenue.
Mass at 9 a.m. and then
breakfast at St. Benedict.
The parade steps off from
Lafayette and East Tremont
Avenue as always.
Remember, our regular
post meeting for all units is
the following Sunday, March
22 as usual at ATNY.
Tuesday, March 17 is the
actual St. Patrick’s Day.
Happy name day Pat Devine
and a salute to our Irish-
American Veterans.
Friday, April 17, Support
the Troops Bingo Fundraiser
evening at Sam Young AL
Post 620.
It is also the National
Commander’s visitation to
our area out at Antun’s of
Queens Village.
Our usual Memorial Day
events to be announced, our
special weekend.
Same for our June end-ofseason
post functions. Any
ideas or suggestions to the
commander please.
How can we display who
we are and our beliefs? Squid,
Coastie, Jarhead, Grunt, Flyboy?
Do we wear something
with pride everyday, not in
fear of PC run amok...a ball
cap, a pin or jacket? “Yes sir
(or ma’am) I served in our
military and I’m a member of
The American Legion!”
Until next time:
It’s not a failure if you
learned something from it.
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